Doing the Math: Anti-Terrorist Aid
President George W. Bush announced today that Pakistan would receive $3 billion in aid in addition to the $1 billion in debt retirement they have received to support their anti-terrorist campaign. It was noted that Pakistan had already apprehended more than 500 al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists and that the army was entering tribal border areas that had not been searched for over a century.
So let's do the math on this:
Aid to Pakistan
$1,000,000,000 debt retirement
$3,000,000,000 aid
Total outlay:
$4,000,000,000
Terrorists removed:
500
$4,000,000,000 / 500 terrorists = $8,000,000 per terrorist
FY 2003 INS budget http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/2003summary/html/INScharts.htm :
$6,343,000,000
Terrorist removed:
Less than 50
$6,343,000,000 / 50 terrorists = $126,860,000,000 per terrorist
So once again, we're exporting our labor overseas to get a better return for our investment!
Please note, this is an entirely specious comparison. In very real terms, the situation is a lot more complex than that.
However, it does indicate that the investment in Pakistan has the potential for worthwhile returns. One of the requirements of civilizations that intend to survive is going into the Central Asia highlands and civilizing the people there so that they do not come down onto the flat and engage in genocidal conquest. I use the term civilize although traditionally this has meant barbarian suppression by genocide. If you do not believe that this is true, I advise you to look up a history of India, Persia, China, or Russia. I believe that today we will not be required to engage in genocidal attacks to enforce our will to survive, but I could be wrong. I certainly believe it is worth $4,000,000,000 to find out if we can do this without genocide.
I believe that genocide is a greater evil than war.
